1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus in which an endoscope stored in a cleaning tub is disinfected by a germicide stored in a chemical solution tank.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, endoscopes have been widely used in a medical field and an industrial field. Endoscopes for a medical field are inserted into body cavities to conduct inspections and treatment, and thus endoscopes used once are always cleaned and disinfected. For example, endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatuses are used when endoscopes used once are cleaned and disinfected.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-230493 proposes an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus in which a channel for quickly feeding a solution in a bottle into a chemical tank is positively formed. In this endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus, as shown in FIG. 15, a germicide bottle tray 12 can be drawn to the front of an apparatus body 2 of the cleaning/disinfecting apparatus. Further, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a bottle body 70 is stored in a storage part 12a of the germicide bottle tray 12. The bottle body 70 is formed by integrally fixing two kinds of bottles, that is, a first bottle 70A and a second bottle 70B with, for example, a tape 79. FIGS. 14 and 15 show the conventional endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus. FIG. 14 is an explanatory drawing of the bottle body formed by combining the first bottle and the second bottle. FIG. 15 is an explanatory drawing of the bottle body and the germicide bottle tray where the bottle body is stored.
A basis obtained by concentrating a germicide is stored in the first bottle 70A and a buffering agent is stored in the second bottle 70B. The bottles 70A and 70B are each made up of a bottle body 71 and a cap 72.
The bottle body 70 formed by combining the first bottle 70A and the second bottle 70B with the tape 79 includes protrusions 73L and 73R that protrude to the left and right, respectively. A hole 74 formed by combining concave portions 74L and 74R is provided substantially at the center of the bottle body 70.
In response to the configuration of the bottles 70A and 70B, the storage part 12a of the germicide bottle tray 12 includes concave portions (not shown) and a convex portion 12c. The concave portions are provided on the front side of the storage part 12a, and the protrusions 73R and 73L provided on the bottle body 70 are respectively disposed on the concave portions. On the other hand, the convex portion 12c protrudes substantially at the center of the storage part 12a so as to be disposed in the hole 74 formed on the bottle body 70.
According to this configuration, when the bottle body 70 formed by combining the first bottle 70A and the second bottle 70B is disposed in the storage part 12a of the germicide bottle tray 12, the protrusions 73L and 73R of the bottle body 70 are disposed in the concave portions provided in the storage part 12a. On the other hand, the convex portion 12c of the storage part 12a is disposed in the hole 74 provided on the bottle body 70. It is thus possible to prevent an inapplicable germicide from being erroneously disposed in the germicide bottle tray 12. In other words, the apparatus is designed such that only a dedicated bottle can be disposed in the storage part 12a of the germicide bottle tray 12.
However, some users request cleaning/disinfecting using an inapplicable germicide.
Even in the case of an inapplicable germicide, when the concentration ratio of a basis and a buffering agent is equal to that of a dedicated type, the basis and the buffering agent of the inapplicable germicide can be respectively stored in the first bottle 70A and the second bottle 70B, so that cleaning and disinfecting can be performed in a similar manner to the dedicated type.
When a germicide is inapplicable and a concentration ratio of the basis and the buffering agent is different from that of the specific type but the total volume of the basis and the buffering agent is equal to that of the dedicated type, cleaning and disinfecting can be performed in a similar manner to the dedicated type by, for example, changing the shapes of the bottles as shown in FIG. 16. To be specific, as shown in FIG. 16 illustrating an example of another way to combine two bottles making up the bottle body, the two kinds of bottles are formed in consideration of the volumes of the chemical solutions such that the bottle body 70 is formed by combining a first bottle 70C for storing the basis and the second bottle 70D for storing the buffering agent.
However, in the presence of a plurality of kinds of germicide of various concentration types, it is seldom that a concentration rate of a basis and a buffering agent is equal to that of the dedicated type or a concentration rate of a basis and a buffering agent is different from that of the dedicated type but the total volume of the basis and the buffering agent is equal to that of the dedicated type.
The present invention is designed in view of the foregoing circumstances. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus enabling cleaning/disinfecting with germicides of various concentration types without greatly modifying the body of the cleaning/disinfecting apparatus.